Peak Pizza Consciousness Arrives…Maybe

Pizza drives pop culture like no other food. I grasped this undeniable reality when I was researching story ideas for a new video show we’re launching soon at PMQ. In fact, we’re launching an entire PizzaTV Network next year with programs targeted both to pizza consumers and pizzeria operators. That decision, in itself, says something about the preeminence of pizza as America’s favorite food and frequent passion.

Rock bands sing about it; celebrities wear its patterns on cheesy outfits; championship-winning football coaches give multi-thousands away at stadium parties; and leading presidential candidates fuel their campaigns on it. Pizza is as traditional as a classic Neapolitan served steaming out of a brick oven in an up-scale restaurant, and as cutting edge as a custom-made prosciutto, pear and arugula pie coming off a fast-casual production line. It’s as ubiquitous as cyberspace, where it’s sold digitally through on-line ordering systems integrated with point-of-service technology and electronic coupon and menu-posting websites and social media platforms. Pizza is as close as a button on your smartphone. Pizza is everywhere.

And that bothers some folks, like the researchers who claim pizza is making our school kids fat, addicting pizza junkies and causing men to pork down at the pizza food trough at the local buffet line to impress the ladies. Of course another study defines “pizza lovers” as women in their 30s who work out twice a week. So much for scientific consensus. I’ve written extensively, in my first year as a pizza pundit, about guys losing weight and shedding cholesterol points on pizza-only diets. Never heard of a pizza pundit? Well, we PPs are the guys and gals who know that dieticians also say homemade, veggie-heavy pizza can be the perfect family meal for nutritious togetherness. And working backward from picky kids (sometimes), pizza weddings are the latest thing in affordable, yet chic, scrumptious nuptials.

Pizza news, pizza costumes, viral pizza videos, pizza holiday wrapping paper pointing toward early February and the mass media footballpalooza where pizza replaces turkey as America’s truly super holiday supper. We haven’t quite reached the Singularity, but we may have achieved peak pizza consciousness as a society. I coined that phrase by the way so send those royalties my way … or don’t. It’s Christmas. Knock yourself out. We pizza pundits are a generous lot.